Martial Arts website, BKO KUNGFU recently asked me for an interview, and I was very happy to speak with them! You can check out the original interview on their site, or read it below. We spoke about how I got into the stunt business and what it’s like for me to be constantly working to make your way up.. I am in no way close to the top of the stunt game yet, but it was a very pleasant interview to re-cap my journey so far, and maybe offer some people an insight into the lifestyle!
Rustic Bodomov has over a decade of experience in martial arts with training specialization in Judo, TKD, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, and boxing. He also has 7 years of Parkour and freerunning experience. He’s been featured on camera in films, television and commercials on numerous occasions.
How did you get your first paid gig as a stunt person?
I moved out to Los Angeles specifically to pursue stunt work. Before I moved out, I already had a little bit of screen fighting experience (gained from making videos with my friends), and several years worth of parkour videos I used to make..so I cut together a showreel for myself in order to market myself.
Right after I moved to Los Angeles, I started training at several gymnastics gyms in the area and asking around about where the stunt people trained. After meeting a couple of working stunt people, and making some friends, I was referred to do some tumbling on a music video as a favor for a friend. My first paid stunt job came as another referral after that music video, I was asked to be the main character for this video – https://vimeo.com/40581867
If one wants to break into action movies, do you think it’s easier to start out as a stunt person and then become an actor or is it better to go straight into acting?
I don’t have a straight answer to this one. Both paths are difficult for their own reasons, I would recommend for the aspiring action actor and/or stuntman to decide which direction you want to go for yourself, then take it. Becoming good at acting, just like stunts, takes hard work and time to get good at. If you want to be an action actor like Jackie Chan, starting with stunts will teach you set etiquette and how a film is run, as well as educate you on how to safely perform your own stunts.. but going directly into acting will start getting you established as a “name” which can be attached to sell a movie.
How many times on average does one have to do a stunt before the director is satisfied with it?
This varies from stunt to stunt, and director to director. If a stuntman is asked to do a high fall, or a similarly large stunt or wreck, everyone will be pushing for only one take. From personal experience, I’ve only been asked to do a “big” stunt for a maximum of 2-3 takes.
When you get into fight choreography, the amount of takes will start to rise because you have more factors involved (such as a moving camera person, several performers, varying energy levels), and you can start seeing upwards of 5-10 takes per shot. Jackie Chan is known for doing some of his “trick” stunts over 100 times to get it just right!
At what martial arts skill level would you recommend someone to make a showreel of themselves for marketing purposes?
If you are going to be pursuing a career in the action film industry, I’d recommend getting yourself some good looking footage soon. The sooner you have something you can use to get jobs for yourself, the better. If you don’t have the ability to create something that accurately reflects your skill, I’d wait until you start working with other people and get enough good footage for a 1 min video (this is a good, short, sweet length for a reel).
Important Side Note!! Martial Arts skill level is not important when it comes to screen fighting skill, and they often times aren’t even in the same boat. While Martial Arts will teach you proper body control, and will definitely help you make your Martial Arts style movement look great, you still want to train with some screen fighters in order to make yourself look good on camera. I come from a Martial Arts background, and I struggled for the longest time to be able to translate my skill level to film. (Martial Arts movements tend to be small and efficient, while good-looking screen fighting movements tent to be bigger, more showy, and sometimes aren’t even proper technique.
What do you find is the best way to network in the martial arts community?
Honestly, I haven’t really networked much with the Martial Arts community. I have made good friends with fellow Martial Artists in the stunt world, but my main networking happens within the stunt community in Los Angeles.
There are several ways to network in the stunt community. Several times a year, different groups of people host “stunt networking” events..and there are several awesome stuntmen who have great training equipment set up in their backyards, and let people come train with them.
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Personally, my favorite way of networking (and where most of my work stems from) is to become a real friend to the people I meet. I try and leave a good first impression while remaining honest to myself. People can usually tell when you’re being sincere and open minded, and it will take you far in life. 🙂
No one teaches Parkour in our area. What’s the best way to get started with it?
I also started learning Parkour when there were no gyms or instructors around! There are plenty of online resources for learning various parkour moves safely (I learned almost everything from YouTube), and you don’t need to leave the ground (aka go on roofs) to learn how to do every type of movement!
My advice is, don’t be afraid, get out there and start moving around and have fun! If you’d like a starting point, check out how to do a parkour roll..
What kind of diet do you have to keep up your strength and stamina?
I don’t follow any set diet plan, but I do try and keep my food intake clean. This means that on a good week, I will stay away from any bread, fried or processed food. I don’t drink soda. I try to eat as many green vegetables as I can, along with a good source of protein (chicken, beans, etc). Greek Yoghurt and Chick Peas are amazing too… I might be getting too particular here, but my basic nutritional philosophy is to stay away from anything processed, deep fried, or carbonated. It just feels so good to eat clean!
What projects are you currently working on that can we can look forward to in the future?
I’m currently helping produce my first feature film, called “Boone: The Bounty Hunter”, which stars my friend John Hennigan (aka, WWE’s Johnny Nitro).
Also, I just doubled one of the main actors on “SMOSH: The Movie” which comes out later this year/early next, and I’m waiting on a couple of VFX-heavy projects I starred in last year to be finished. My side project for the time being is my youtube channel.
Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true.. only you can do anything you set your mind to! I’ve learned time and again that the secret for creating success in anything you set out to do is to do it with a positive attitude and to really invest in yourself with hard work. What would the future, successful you be doing right now? Training? Writing? Filming? Be the person you see yourself being in the future, today!
Thank you very much for your time, and for asking such great questions guys! 🙂
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Hopefully you guys enjoyed this interview, and feel free to ask me any more questions you might have!
Also, remember that we are all growing every day and an interview is a good snapshot of the current moment.. but never stop growing and evolving! Have an amazing day, everyone!